Nose board for axminster looms



p 1945- s. N. M cAsLiN ET AL 2,384,322

NOSE BOARD FOR AXMINSTER LOOMS Filed May 20. 1944 :s Sheds-Sheet 1 p 9 1945 s. N. MCCASLIN ETAL 2,384,322

NOSE BOARD FOR AXMINSTER LOOHS Filed May 20, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I i; t

m wgmw Patented Sept. 4, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Stanley N. McCaslin and Arthur Lamb, Worcester, Mass., assignors to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass.,

Massachusetts a. corporation of Application May 20, 1944, Serial No. 536,534

19 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in Axminster looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide such looms with a nose board the pile tuft forming or engaging hooks of which are resiliently mounted for movement out of the path of one of the tuft cutting knives.

In looms of the type set forth in Dacey and Robertson No. 1,958,129 it is customary to provide the nose board of an Axminster loom with a series of upwardly projecting hooks over which the tuft forming yarns extending from the tube frame are moved as the lay beats up on tuft forming picks of the loom. These hooks are separated by slots which receive the reed dents and have their rear surfaces so formed as to assist in the upward and forward curving of the free ends of the tuft yarns during the tuft forming operation.

Axminster looms are ordinarily provided with front and back tuft cutting knives which act at the end of the tuft forming operation to cut the tufts from the yarn carried by the tube frames. l hese knives extend across the loom without intermediate supports and one of them, the back knife in the present instance, is moved forwardly to a position just behind the tufts, and then the other one is moved backwardly with an irregular motion, the effect of which is to start the cutting operation at one end of the loom, the left end as set forth hereinafter, and carry the cutting operation progressively across the loom to the other side. At the end of the cutting. operation the left end of the lower knife is an appreciable distance below the adjacent end of the upper knife due to the angle of clearance between the cutting edges necessary for proper shearing action. This angle is produced by inclining the front lower knife upwardly and to the right relatively to the top knife, and because of it there is danger that the pile tuft hooks at the left of the loom will be struck by the front knife as the latter moves rearwardly.

Because of the length of the knives and the fact that they are not supported intermediate their ends they have a tendency to sag slightly near the center of the loom and as the knives move in the cutting operation there is likelihood that the intermediate part of th forward knife will engage those tuft forming hooks which are near the center of the loom.

It is an important object of our present invention to mount the hooks so that they are held normally in raised tuft forming position but can move downwardly if engaged by the front knife due either to the'aforesaid angle or sa gi It is also desirable to adapt the loom for the weaving of either high or low tuft piles without laborious changes in the loom. To permit conversion from one height to another height of pile we alter the shape of the tuft forming hooks and construct them so that they can be used to weave low piles despite the fact that they are designed primarily for high pile weaving. The top surfaces of the hooks are inclined downwardly and 1 forwardly so that when the hooks are engaged by the front knife during weaving of low pile tufts they will be pushed downwardly.

As set forth hereinafter the back knife is held stationary during cutting and is the upper knife of the pair, whereas the front knife i caused to have the aforesaid irregular motion and move under the back knife. This, however, is not the only relation of knives which can exist in Axminster looms and we do not wish necessarily to be limited to the specific knife arrangement set forth hereinafter.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, our invention resides in the combination and arrangement of 5 part hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of our invention is set forth, Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the nose board and tuft cutting knives as viewed from the right end of an rAxminster loom with a pile tuft ready to be cut from the tube frame, the knives and their carrier bars being shown in section and in the positions they occupy just before the knives engage each other,

Fig. 2 is similar to Fig. 1 but shows the knives at the end of a cutting. operation,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view similar to a portion of Fig. 1, but showing the breast beam and cloth board in cross section and indicating one of the hook units in elevation,

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 44 of Fig. 3, showing a. portion of the-breast beam and associated parts,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the hook units.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the unit shown in Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the gang spring looking in the direction of arrow 1, Fig. 3,

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing one of the teeth of the breast beam in elevation with units which are shown in dot and dash lines,

Fig. is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 3 with part of the cloth board removed to show the hook units thereunder,

Figs. 11 and 12 are diagrammatic plan and front elevations respectively of the tuft cutting knives at the beginning of a cutting operation,

Figs. 13; and 14 are similar to Figs. 11 and respectivelyexcept that the cutting operation is indicated as approximately half completed.

Figs. 15 and 16 are views similar to Figs. 11

and 12, but indicating the relation of the knives when the cutting operation is complete,

Fig. 17 is a diagrammatic frontelevation of the front knife showing the central hooks engaged by the middle part of the sagging knife, and

Figs. 18 and 19 are diagrammatic views showing the relation of the knives and the tuft forming hooks during the weaving of high and low tuft piles, respectively.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, we have shown only those parts of an'Axminster loom which are directly associated with our invention, other parts being omitted and constructed if desired according to the disclosure of the Dacey and Robertson patent. The fixed breast beam 20 of the loom extends across the-loom and is provided along its rear upperedge with a cloth board 2| which supports the fabric F. Spacer plates 22 align with reed dents 23 as set forth more particularly in the aforesaid patent and are located below and behind the breast beam and are operated in well-known manner to straighten the'tuft yarns during the tuft forming-operation. Front and back knife bars 25 and 26 are mounted in guide supports 21 and 28, respectively, and slide along the latter in planes inclined toward each other as will be apparent from Fig. l. The frontbar 25 has a front pile tuft cutting knife or cutter blade 30 secured to the under side thereof as at 3|, while the rear bar 26 is provided with a. similar backknife 32 'I'he'bars and their secured thereto as at 3'3. knives extend across the loom and are supported at their'ends as indicated in Fig. 1 but have no intermediate supports. During a pile tuft cutting operation the knives move backwardly and forwardly with respect to the front of the loom, each knife reciprocating in the general direction of the length of the fabric being woven.

A tube frame 35 having pile tuft forming yarns Y is given its usual movements to project the yarns Y between the binder warps B, a pick P of filling is then inserted in the shed behind the yarnsY, after which the reed R moves the pick and tuft yarns forwardly over a nose board which is designated generally at N to cause upward and forward curving of the free ends of the yarns during the tuft forming operation. After the tube frame has performed its usual function of pulling off enough yarn Y for the next row of tufts, it is held temporarily in the position shown in Fig. 1 with the lower ends of the tuft yarns curved upwardly to form pile tufts to be out free from the tube frame. The back knife is then moved forwardly approximately to the position shown in Fig. 1 preparatory to the tuft cutting operation, after which the front knife is moved rearwardly for the purpose of cutting the pile tufts T from the'yarns Y, as indicated in Fig. 2. The knives then move out ofoperating position, the rear knife moving backwardly and the front knife moving forwardly to make room for the next tube frame to come into action. I

A condition existing in wide Axminster looms incident to pile tuft cutting is shown in Figs. 11 to 16 which indicate diagrammatically the relationship between the front and back cutter knives during a cutting operation. As shown in Fig. 12 the cutting edge 36 which extends along the upper rear part of the front knife 32 is slightly oblique with respect to the cutting edge 3'! of th back knifefand is inclined upwardly and to the right as viewed from the front of the loom. The reason for this obliquity is to provide proper shearing relationship between the two knives during the tuft cutting operation.

As shown in Fig. 11, when a cutting operation starts the left end of the front knife is pushed rearwardly in advance of the right end and passes under the back knife as at a to cut the left-most pile tufts in the loom. The right end of the front knife is then moved rearwardly to cause the point of contact between the cutting edges 36 and 31 to travel across the loom from left to right. When th knives assume the {position shown in Fig. 13 the cutting operation'is approximately half finished with the knives contacting at b, but it will be seen from Fig. 14 which corresponds to Fig. 13 that the left end ofthe lower front knife has moved downwardly a short distance below the left end of the upper rear knife due to the obliquity of the cutter knives.

When the cutting operation is completed the point of contact between the knives has movedacross the loom to c, and the knives are in a position indicated diagrammatically in Figs. 15 and 16, the whole of the cutting edge 36 having passed behind the cutting edge 31 and the left end of the front knife being a considerable distance below the left end of the back knife. 1 The vertical position .of the left end of the front knife at the end of a cutting operation has'animportant bearing on our invention.

.eAnother condition encountered in wide Ax- -minster looms is the sagging of the front knife and its-bar suggested in Fig. 17. In this figure the front knife 30 is shown diagrammatically in front elevation with the central part d thereof v indicated as being slightly lower than the ends.

Although special attempts are made inthe manufacture of wide knife and knife bars to offset the sagging, there is likely, nevertheless, to be a certain amount of downward deflection of the k shown in Figs. 9 and 10 We cut a series of vertical central part of the knife due to the weightof' the knife bar. During backward movement of the knife 30 the center thereof ma'yfengage the nose board and damage its tuft forming hooks unless provision is made to permit the hooks to move out of the path of the knife.

teeth 40 on the rear of the breast beam 20 and provide an upwardly opening slot 4|. in each tooth. These slots are aligned longitudinally with each other across the loom to receive one or.

more pivot rods 42 on which are mounted the forward ends of the pile .tuft engaging units 43. Each unit has provision for pivotal support afforded by a downwardlyopening slot 44 the upper. end of which fits over the rod,42 and serves as a transverse horizontal bearing. Eachfunitf'also has a downwardly extending arm 45 formed as part of the front. body 46 of-the unit in which. the slot 44 is located. .Integral with andextending rearwardly from the body 46 are three flat vertically disposed parallel teeth or members 41 separated by reed dent receiving slots 48. The tooth or member 41 is formed more particularly as shown in Fig. with a curved rear face 48' convex rearwardly and leading up to a concave area 49 which leads to the rear of an upstanding pile tuft engaging hook 50 located at the rear end of the member 41. The body 46 and members 41 of each unit lie below the cloth board, but the hooks lie behind the board. The top surface 5| of the hook is inclined downwardly and forwardly for a purpose to be described. I

The hook units and their bodies 46 fit into horizontally spaced vertical slots 55 cut into the breast beam to form the teeth 40 and in order that the hook units may be held yieldingly in their normally raised tuft engaging position we provide resilient means which in the present instance takes the form of a flat strip of spring steel having a solid lower rail 56 from which spring tongues 51 extend upwardly into the slots 55 between teeth 40. As shown more particularly in Fig. 3 the rail 56 is secured as at 60 to the under inclined surface 6| of the breast beam 20, and as shown in Fig. the tongues 51 extend upwardly through the forward parts of the slots 55 into engagement with the depending arms 45 of thehook units, while the teeth 40 are received by slots 58 between the spring tongues. The

spring tongues hold the units 43 up. against the cloth board 2| which is fastened as at 62 to the breast beam and in the present instance serves not only to support the fabric being woven but also as a stop to limit upward movement of the hook units and cause the latter to be aligned horizontally across the loom in their normally raised position. The units 43 are thus separate from and movable relatively to the breast beam and cloth board. I

As shown in Fig. 6 the body 46 of each unit is somewhat narrower than the rear part thereof and in order to accommodate the wider parts of the hook unit the rear ends of the teeth 40, are reduced in thickness as at 65. The slots 48 may terminate in a forward edge which is, inclined downwardly and forwardly as at 66, although we do not wish thus to be limited. The teeth 40 separate adjacent units 43 by a space 61 similar in width to slots 48 to receive a reeddent.

In operation, the knives will be spaced to De mit the tube frame to have its rolling-in movements and assume the position shown in Fig. 1 with the tuft T to be out from the yarns Y resting on the cloth board and the hooks 50 in normal raised position behind the tufts; The front knife moves rearwardly over the hook units, breast beam and cloth board, and reaches a position over the hooks 50 at the beginning of the cutting operation as shown in Fig. 1. It will be understood, however, that due to the conditions illustarted in Figs. 16 and 17, certain of the hooks 50 will be in the path of knife 3|) and will be engaged by it during some part of the operation the action of spring tongues 51 is effected by pivotal movement of the hook units around rod 42, but we do not wish thus to be limited in the practice of our invention.

Another feature of our invention relates to provision for weaving high and low tuft piles in the same loom without altering the nose board. It is to be understood that when high piles are being cut the blades 30 and 32 will be in high position, as shown in Fig. 18, but when low piles are being cut the knives are lowered to some such position as that indicated in Fig. 19. When the knives are set for cutting high pile the front knife 30 will pass over surfaces 5| without touching them while moving from the full line to the dotted line position of Fig. 18 except for those hooks which are in the path of knife 30 due to the two conditions described involving obliquity of the knives and their sagging. When the knives are set in low position as shown in Fig. 19, however, knife 30 will engage the surfaces 5| of all the hooks at each cutting operation when moving from the full line to the dotted line position of Fig. 19 and move the units 43 down to the dotted line position of that figure. It is because of the inclined surface 5| on each hook that the loom can be converted from weaving high pile to low pile Without changing the nose board or risking damage to it, and without altering the cloth board. The surface 5| is inclined downwardly and toward the side of hook from which approaches the knife that engages the hooks.

During the beat-up operation of the reed the warp binders B exert some downward pull on the hook units, but the spring tongues 51 are sufficiently strong under normal conditions to withstand this downward pull of the warp. The spring tongues 51 and arms 450i the hook units will ordinarily be stopped by walls I8 formed on the breast beam at the forward ends of slots before the hook ends 50 can move below and get out of register with the binder warps.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided means whereby the hooks of the nose board of an Axminster loom are mountedtuft piles are being cut, as indicated in Fig. 19.

It will also be noted that the cloth board 2| serves to limit upward movement of the hook units and acts in cooperation with the spring tongues 51 to align all of the hooks horizontally. The nose board N is shown herein as comprising a fixed member, such as the breast beam, on which the hook units are pivoted, but we do not wish to be limited to this particular mounting for the hooks.

Having thus described ourinvention it will be seen that changes and modifications may bev made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what we claim is:-

l. In an Axminster loom having a knife moving to pile tuft cutting position to cut pile tufts, pile tuft engaging hooks which when in normal position are behind the tufts to be cut and in position to be engaged by said knife when the 1 latter moves to cutting position, andmeans I 2. In an Axminster loom having a knife mov ing to'pile'tuft cutting position to cut .pile tufts, pile-tuft engaging. hooks behindthe tufts to be cut;.:means normally holding said hooks in position to be engaged by said knife when the latter moves to pile tuftcutting position, and means mounting said hooks for movement away from the normal position thereof when engaged by saidknife.

.3. In an Axminster loom having aknife moving: topile tuftcutting position to cut pile tufts, pile tuft engaging hooks behind the tufts to be cut; resilient means holding said hooks in normal positicn'and in the. path of the knife as the latter moves to tuft forming position, and means mounting said hooks for movement from the normal Iposition thereof by said knife against the action of said resilient means when the knife moves to cutting position. 7

4. In an Axminster. loom having a breast beam and a knife moving to pile tuft cutting position;'to cut pile tufts, pile tuft engaging hooks,

behind the tufts to be cut, resilient means on the breast beam holding said hooks in normal position and in the path of the knife as the latter moves to tuft forming position, and means pivotally mounting said hooks on said breast beam for movement from the normal position thereof by said knife against the action of said resilient means when the knife moves to cutting position.

5. In an Axminster loom having a breast beam and a pile tuft cutting knife moving thereover during a tuft cutting operation, units on the breast beam having rearwardly extending ends formed with hooks behind the tuft to be cut and located under the knife when the latter is in tuft cutting position, means mounting the hook units for downward movement of said ends relatively to the breast beam, and means holding the units with said ends normally in raised position but yielding to permit downward movement of said ends upon engagement of the hooks by the knife.

6. In an Axminster loom having a breast beam and a tuft cutting knife moving to cutting position during a tuft cutting operation, pile tuft.

engaging units extending rearwardly from said breast beam and having hooks behind the tuft to be cut and under said knife when the latter is in cutting position, means mounting said hook units for movement relatively to the breast beam to permit downward movement of said hooks, resilient means normally holdingsaid hooks in raised position and yielding uponv engagement of said knife with said hooks to permit downward movement of said latter.

7. In an Axminster loom having a knife moving to pile tuft cutting position to cut pile tufts, pile tuft engaging hooks behind the tufts to be cut, means mounting said hooks for vertical movement, and means normally holding said hooks in raised position but permitting said hooks to be moved dwnwardly by said knife when the latter is in tuft cutting position.

8. In an Axminster loom having a breast beam, a cloth board secured thereto, and a knife moving to pile .tuft cutting position, units extending under the cloth board and projecting rearwardly therefrom and having hooks behind the pile tuft to be cut in the path of said knife as the latter moves to cutting position, pivotal connections between said units and the breast beam, and resilient means normally holding said units in raised position against said cloth board, said knife when moving to cutting position engaging'said hooks and moving them downwardly.

9. In an Axminster loom'having abreast beam,

piletuftengaging hook units projecting rearwardly from and pivotallymounted on the breast beam for vertical movement relatively to the breast beam, and resilient means normally holding said hook units in raised tuft engaging position.

10. In an Axminster loom having a breast beam provided with rearwardly extendinghorizontally spaced teeth, piletuft engaging hookunits located between said teethand pivotally mounted on the'breast beam for vertical movement between said teeth, and resilient means normally holding said hook units in raised position but yielding to permit downward movement of said units away from said-raised position.

ll. In an Axminster loom having a breast beam units, and resilient means between said teeth normally holding said hook units against said stop means but permitting said hook units to move downwardlywith respect to said stop means} 12. In an Axminster loom having a breast beam' formed with horizontally spaced rearwardly extending teeth, pile tuft engaging hook units 10'- co'ated between said teeth, a rod supported by said teeth and providing pivotal support forsaid hook r units, and resilient means carried by the breast beam and normally-holding said hook units in raised position with'respect to the breast beam but permitting downward movement of saidunits relatively to the breast beam.

13'. A nose board for an Axminster loom comprising a fixed member extending transversely of the loom, a plurality of pile tuft engaging hook units'extending rearwardly from and pivotally mounted on1said member, and' resilient means holding said hook units normally in raised posi','

tion but'permitting downward movement thereof with respect to said member.

1 4. A nose board for an Axminster loom comprising a member extending transversely of the loom, a plurality of piletuft engaging hook units formed separately fromisaid member and mounted thereon for movement'in vertical planes, and

resilient means normally holding said hook;

in raisedposition relatively to said member but permitting downward movement of' said hook units with respect to said member. 15.1 A pile tuft engaging unit for the nose board of an Axminster loom, said unit having a body provided with a bearing to receive a pivotal sup: port, and said body having a rearwardly extending part with a flat upper surface to en ge the nose board and having integral therewith a rearwardly extending member provided with an upstanding tuft engaging hook sufliciently high to extend above the nose board.

, 16. In an Axminster loom having a knife mov ing to pile tuft cutting position to cut pile tufts,

pile tuft engaging hooks which when in normal position are behind the tufts to be out, said hooks.

having top surfaces inclined downwardly and toward the side of the hook which the knife approaches during a cutting operation, said top surfaces being in the path of the knife, and means, mounting said hooks for downward movement away from normal position when the knife engages said inclined surfaces.

17. In an Axminster loom having a breast beam formed with a rearwardly extending tooth, a pile tuft engaging unit on each side of said tooth, and a plurality of pile tuft engaging hooks oneach unit separated by reed dent receiving slots, said tooth separating said units so that adjacent hooks thereof define a reed dent receiving space.

18. In an Axminster loom having a breast beam formed with horizontally spaced rearwardly extending teeth having upwardly opening aligned slots therein, a rod located in said slots and extending transversely of said teeth, pile tuft engaging units pivoted on said rod between said having provision for pivotal support with respect to the nose board and having a pile tuft engaging hook integral with said body, the hook having a top surface for engagement with said knife and over which tufts are adapted to pass.

STANLEY N. MCCASLIN. ARTHUR LAMB. 

